Such cages are traditionally arranged, for handling around the farm, and lifting on and off the truck, by a fork lift. On the truck the cages are stacked typically two high, the weight of the upper cage resting on the lower cage.
The birds are in the cages for no more than a few hours, but still the losses in the traditional conventional cages are higher than they should be. The birds can be injured and damaged from hard physical contact with the walls and floors of the cages. In the traditional cage designs, there are projections and sharp edges, inherent in the design thereof, which can also damage the birds.
Another type of injury can happen when water forms pools on the floor or tray of the cage. The water may be excrement or precipitation water. In cold weather, the water freezes, and the birds can become trapped as a result of their feet being frozen to the floor, and injuries can follow especially when the birds are jostled upon being extracted from the cage.
When the components of the cage with which the birds make prolonged contact (e.g the floor of the cage) are metal, the temperature thereof can become so hot—or so cold—that simple direct contact leads to physical injury to the birds.
On the transport truck, the cages may be jerked and bounced around. All too often, unfortunately, with the traditional designs, not only does this injure the birds, but also it can damage the cages. (Often, the worst violence occurs when the cages are being moved around an uneven farmyard on a fork lift.) So, it is common for the farmer to have to spend time repairing (re-welding, usually) the cracked and broken frameworks of the cages.
Also, the traditional cages also have not been particularly designed to safeguard the birds, and to keep them from being injured as they are flung violently against the components of the cage. Other things that can lead to distress of the birds, such as lack of ventilation, proper drainage, ease of cleaning, etc, have not been given due attention in the traditional designs. The traditional cages have not been designed to maximise the safety and comfort of the birds; it is recognised that, by paying attention to these aspects, losses due to birds being killed and injured during transport can be significantly reduced. Also, it is not uncommon for the cage doors of traditional cages to open accidentally during transport, and for the birds inside to be lost.
It is an aim of the present invention to alleviate these problems. In the invention, much of the framework is bolted. Bolted joints are inherently pre-stressed by the tightness of the bolts, which makes such joints much more able to absorb bending and other stresses that can arise from the rough and abusive treatment meted out to transport cages in the farm-to-market context.
A poultry transport cage of the kind as described herein, as a structure, does not have the typical fragility associated with traditional live-poultry cages, of course, any cage can be damaged, but the freedom from constant need for small running repairs, due to the overall general robustness of the new manner of construction, is very marked. Also, in the new design, if components do get damaged, they can be unbolted, and either easily repaired, or easily replaced. For example, a careless handler might run a lift fork into one of the plastic fences; the plastic fence then must be removed and replaced, but it easily can be, as will be described.